Orion Digest №24 — A Proposal for a Civilian World Parliament

The key to world federation, or for that matter, eco-socialist federation, is mass organization and effort to gain political recognition. The success of the Campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, one of the most prominent movements out there, is marked through the number of politicians that have expressed support for the idea. However, a UNPA is only the first step towards global unity, and if collaboration and coordination are the key to solving the world’s problems on an international scale, they might prove a useful tool for movements on the civilian scale.

My proposal that I will outline in this essay is for a Civilian World Parliament — a government tied to no nation, with voting registration open to all citizens of the globe, regardless of nationality, race, gender, religion, political belief, etc. There are many needs to which this can provide an answer, but at its core, it provides a model for future world federation, an example and a proving ground for theories and structure that will one day be necessary to implement in full. The more practice we gain with a system of global democratic governance, the more we can find potential flaws and understand how to get it right the first time when something like the UNPA passes, or when a world federation is completely formed.

The Civilian World Parliament would consist of an biannually convened voting body of registered global citizens, who would construct policy proposals to send either to the UN/national governments for review, or to member organizations for implementation/advertisement. While anyone can vote on motions, the origin of these motions would be set up by two halves of the Parliament — the representatives of the Public Mass, and the representatives of Member Organizations, elected from their corresponding pools.

The Public Mass, as the name implies, would consist of elected representatives from the voting population of global civilians — anyone across the world can run for elected office and be elected by their constituents, as with any form of representative democratic government. They would have two year terms, as to allow enough time between elections for four conferences, but little enough time that new representatives can more continuously move in and be given a chance to serve, keeping perspectives fresh. The voting world would be divided into select regions that would each have an equal number of representatives — the exact size and dimensions of these regions would be settled during the founding conference and could be rewritten for more equity through a motion passed into the Parliament. The Public Mass representatives would be able to form committees of four or more representatives that could construct and bring forward proposals to the Parliament.

On the other hand, the Member Organizations would make up the acting branch as opposed to the voting branch of the Civilian World Parliament. The management and upkeep of the Parliament itself (organizing conferences, advertising and providing registration, enacting policy) would be done through organizations that join the Civilian World Parliament on a voluntary basis. However, in exchange, a member organization can elect Parliament representatives to speak for the interests of specific movements, membership can gain extended support and attention, and depending on the proposal, they can receive resources/voting/funding for their causes.

Not every member organization would be involved with upkeep, but many of the motions would affect their operations. Say the CWP votes positively on a motion to push for campaigning against homelessness and poverty through its member organizations. Then, these members would be tasked with contributing to the campaign through advertising and activism, in addition to their normal operations. Membership is voluntary, but motions decided by the Parliament are compulsory, and any organization that was against inclusion in a program would have to vote against its passing (which is why the Member Organization voting pool would have equal voting power to the Public Mass voting pool, and could veto with a majority vote). This responsibility is part of the experiment of the CWP — if organizations can commit to participation in a global democracy at the cost of compulsory policy, then the same principle can apply to nations on a grander scale.

In terms of funding for the CWP, there are a few options available, which would largely revolve around donations. Organizing digitally and trying to keep such a Parliament at a low cost would be possible, but would make for a much more informal structure, which has advantages and disadvantages. A digital CWP would be much easier to create, but could limit our public activity and reputation. The acceptance of donations could allow the possibility of in-person international activity (humanitarian aid, rallies, campaigns, meetings), though such a source would need to be stable to allow a regular schedule. Membership/registration fees are an option, but one I would personally dislike to consider, due to the paywall it creates for representation within a CWP — it is meant to be open to all people of Earth, not just those who can afford it.

The Civilian World Parliament has many uses for voters, organizations, and government alike. It provides us to model a potential democratic world federation, governments and the UN with a way to communicate and interact with the people at large, a method of organizing like-minded movements and coordinating their actions on specific issues for further impact, and a way for people around the world to come together and participate in politics. Aspiring politicians could gain experience running for office, while organizations could make themselves heard and known across the world. Public interest could be gauged on a worldwide scale — not the interest of governments, but for once, the interests of the common citizen.

The CWP Proposal is one that the Sword of Orion seeks to build and implement in the following years, and to any world federalists out there interested in a global civilian government, we’d love to have your support.

- DKTC FL